Australia’s ‘shocking’ offshore immigration regime inspires play staged in Iran – The Guardian

A poster for Nazanin Sahamizadehs play Manus, which follows the lives of seven Iranian men who flee Iran only to wind up in the offshore detention centre run by Australia on Papua New Guineas Manus Island. Photograph: Nazanin Sahamizadeh

A Tehran playwright wants to bring her production, Manus, to Australia to help the outside world hear the voices of refugees held on the remote island.

Nazanin Sahamizadehs play follows the lives of seven Iranian men who flee by various means from Iran, seeking protection and freedom, only to wind up in the offshore detention centre run by Australia on Papua New Guineas Manus Island. The play centres around their time on the island and their struggle to cope with the violence, indignities and privation of their indefinite detention, and the uncertainty over their futures.

The seven-man production is in the middle of a two-month run at the Qashqai Hall of Tehrans City Theatre complex and Sahamizadeh hopes to soon take it further afield.

I wish, firstly, to perform it in Australia and then in other places in the world, to allow people to hear the voices of refugees, she told the Guardian. And I hope to create a movement towards closing Manus and Nauru camps as soon as possible and helping to free the refugees held there.

Sahamizadeh said few people in Iran were aware of Australias offshore detention regime, despite Iranians being the largest cohort of detainees on both of Australias offshore islands.

There is no information about these camps at all in Iran and no news about the events and disasters that have been happened there, she said. Maybe just a few people have heard a brief headline of news.

I thought only Reza Barati had been killed by camp authorities but others have also died in the camps.

She said she had been stunned to learn of the detention centre on Manus ruled illegal and unconstitutional by the supreme court more than 10 months ago and that men had been held there for more than three years.

It is so tragic and shocking, she said. Because Australia is first-world country and a pretender [to uphold] human rights. But this behaviour with refugees and asylum seekers is completely against humanity.

The play deals with violence in the island camps and the deterioration of the protagonists mental and physical health. But the show does not aim to preach, Sahamizadeh insisted.

Ive mostly tried to give audiences awareness and make them think, instead of giving them just message.

She said people brought, and left with, different attitudes towards the issue of irregular migration and of those who seek asylum.

Some believe that refugees should not use illegal ways and government has right to deal with them but the majority are saying that these camps should be closed and government should not act like this.

She said the play, despite its controversial subject matter Irans theocratic regime is sensitive to the issue of its citizens fleeing to claim protection and refuses to accept failed asylum seekers forcibly returned to its territory has not attracted the attention, nor opprobrium, of authorities.

My play is a social show and not political and is for ordinary people and not authorities.

Hossein Babaahmadi, a former asylum seeker held on Manus who has since returned to Iran, spoke at a performance of the play, telling the audience he was still suffering from his time seeking asylum and in detention.

Only those who been through this can imagine this journey every single moment of it was like death.

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Australia's 'shocking' offshore immigration regime inspires play staged in Iran - The Guardian